As sales and
marketing professionals, our job is communication. Communication means
the prospect receiving and understanding the messages we want them to
understand.

Where can we find sales and marketing's number one mistake? Looking at
web sites, we see it. Looking at brochures, we see it. PowerPoint, we
see it. On sales calls - that is when we see it most. It is amazing
that almost every sales and marketing organization makes the very same
mistake.

What is this number one mistake? It is failing to follow a rule we all learned in sales and marketing 101.

Think like the prospect.

Some examples may illuminate the problem.

One
software vendor stated they sold to C-Level decision makers. The
vendor's web site featured technology. How many C-Level execs think
about technology? How many of these C-Level execs know about operating
systems and databases, let alone care?

A
vendor bragged about their focus on a specific vertical market. The
vendor's home page did not mention that segment, not even a meaningful
picture. Prospects think that focus on their kind of business is
important. If you were an executive in that vertical and looking for a
solution, would you bother to look beyond the vendor's home page to see
if they served your segment?

A
vendor stated they had great references, their sales brochure did not
mention that other companies used their product, let alone mention
their names. Prospects think that references mean a vendor is more
experienced and less risky. From the vendor's brochure, would most
prospects assume that the vendor had no references?

A
vendor invented a new way to define a business need. They spend a lot
of time defining their new idea but no place did they relate it to the
vocabulary, used every day, of the buyer. Prospects can only think in
the vocabulary that they bring to the situation. Will prospects figure
out that this new term defines what they consider their old problem?

A
software company's introductory PowerPoint focused on the great
features available in the most recent release. The sales and marketing
team were excited about the new stuff but bored with the old stuff.
Prospects do not think in terms of "old" and "new", it is all new to
them. With the vendor focusing on the new stuff, will prospects know
what is in the total product or assume that the "old stuff" is just
missing?

If we do not understand, think like and talk like
our prospects, are we communicating to our prospects? Communications
has two sides, a sender and a receiver. If the receiver does not
receive what the sender intended to be understood, communications has
not taken place. It is the sender's responsibility to deliver a message
that communicates. If communication does not take place, it is always
the senders fault. As sales and marketing professionals, we are the
senders and it is our responsibility to communicate.

For
communication to take place, the prospect must understand our words.
Since the prospect only knows their words, sales and marketing must
understand the prospects vocabulary or they can never construct
messages that communicate. Doing market research using a book or a web
site can help with this knowledge, but rarely teach us all we need to
know. Fully learning the market requires talking to the market.
Existing customers are the best place to learn the vocabulary of the
market. Sales and marketing must talk to customers; visit their
locations, to understand the vocabulary of these businesses.

We all evaluate messages within the context of what we already know and
this includes our prospects. Marketing messages must relate to the
prospect's context. This is partly vocabulary but also things that are
"common knowledge" in the industry -- business practices, industry
traditions and current issues.

Common Flaws in Our Thinking

Talking to various sales and marketing professionals, we hear a number
of common statements on this problem. Let us look at a few of the
statements and understand why they reflect false thinking on our part.

The industry knows us.
You may have a long list of customers and great market presence, but
that rarely translates into "everyone knows us". Even if the prospect
knows who you are, do they have the knowledge and the image you want
them to have? When talking to new prospects, always assume they know
little about you, your company and your products.

We will just ask our customers.
This is usually a good step and not a bad one. However, customers by
definition have already figured out what you are trying to tell them or
they would not be customers. During a sales cycle, when a prospect
starts using some of your vocabulary to define problems and solutions,
you know you are communicating and probable winning. When you later go
back to that company to understand their vocabulary, the customer has
already converted to some of your vocabulary and thinking and their
value has lessened.

Focus on the exciting stuff.
This is not a bad communication strategy if the focus is on the stuff
that is exciting to the prospect. Too often, the focus is on what is
exciting to the sales and marketing team. Remember, what might be old
and boring to you may be new and exciting to the prospect.

We can educate the prospect.
Yes, you can. However, education is different from selling. Educators
may not win orders. They may spend a lot of time educating and never
get much more than a thank you. It is much easier to leverage the
knowledge that the prospect already has than get them to think
differently or to learn and then apply new knowledge. There is a reason
that it cost a lot of money to go to college, education is expensive.
In the case of a sales organization, educating prospects means a high
cost of sales, education is expensive.

As sales and
marketing professionals, our job is communication. Communication means
the prospect receiving and understanding the messages we want them to
understand. To achieve communication, we need to think like our
prospect. Not thinking like the prospect means that communication will
be limited, non-existent, or even worse, have a negative impact, giving
them a message different from what we intent to communicate.

Olin Thompson is a leading sales & marketing
consultat to application software providers. With 25+ years
experience, Olin has been called "The Father of Process ERP". He works
with solutions providers, analysts, and the press. To learn more visit www.processerp.com. Contact Olin directly at 401.421.6968 or e-mail: olin@processerp.com